MORGANTOWN — They have been playing girls’ basketball at Trinity Christian School since the late 1990s and now there is one name on top of the all-time coaching wins list.
In his ninth season at the helm of the Warriors, Mike Baldy is now the school’s all-time winningest coach as Trinity beat visiting Liberty 73-52 on Thursday night. He now has 105 victories as the head coach of TCS.
Baldy, who was hired as the girls’ coach by former TCS athletic director and coach Cary Woods, said it was special to surpass his mentor.
“He’s the guy that hired me,” Baldy said. “He’s just a guy I look up to as a person and as a coach, so it’s nice to be in that same conversation as him. I will say that Woodsie did it in way less years – his winning percentage is way higher than mine.”
Trinity earned the victory thanks to its two seniors, Jenna Barnett, and Ella Rose Lynch, as each of them took turns carrying the scoring burden.
The Warriors (3-3) ended a three-game skid as they jumped out to a 16-0 lead that saw Barnett score the first 11 points all by herself. She hit her first four shots and finished with 14 points in the contest. Barnett also added 11 rebounds and five assists.
Those video game-like numbers allowed Baldy to relax much of the second half as Trinity built a 41-16 halftime lead.
“Jenna and Ella started as freshmen with a class of nine and now they are the only ones left from that class,” Baldy said. “Jenna and Ella work so well together. Ella runs in transition and Jenna finds her or if Jenna misses a shot, Ella is there to get a second-chance point. It’s a good thing to have two seniors like that.”
Lynch picked up the scoring in the second quarter as she scored eight points in the frame and finished with a career-high 21 points.
“Coach is the best coach, I love him,” Lynch said. “He’s hard on us when he needs to be, but he also just lets us run free and his plays are so well drawn up against every single team. His presses, his offense is just all perfect.”
Lynch finished with five 3-pointers in the contest after missing two early tries from distance in the first quarter.
“I was a little bit upset with myself at halftime,” Lynch said. “I’m a shooter and I have to just let it fly and it was just flying, and my teammates were looking for me.”
Especially Barnett who said she and Lynch have a special connection.
“I pretty much know where she is going to be all the time,” Barnett said. “We’ve grown up together. I’ve been with Ella since middle school, and we are really close friends on and off the court.”
The Warriors pushed their lead to 31 points early in the third quarter before letting off the gas to close the game.
Freshman Peyton Moore added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Trinity who returns to action today when it hosts Notre Dame.
Emma Elliott led the Mountaineers (0-6) with 26 points and 16 rebounds while Gabryella Forman scored 15 as she hit five 3-pointers.
BOX SCORE
Trinity 77, Liberty 52
1 2 3 4 F
LHS 7 9 22 14 52
TCS 22 19 25 11 77
LHS – Travelstead 2 0-0 4, Thompson 1 2-2 4, Forman 5 0-0 15, Elliott 9 8-10 26, Ritter 0 1-2 1. Totals: 18 11-14 52.
TCS – Barnett 6 1-4 14, Blake 2 1-2 7, Lynch 8 0-0 21, Flecker 1 0-0 2, Moore 3 5-6 11, Williams 3 0-0 6, Conn 1 6-8 8, Deal 1 0-0 3, Hopkins 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 13-20 77.
3-Pointers – LHS: Forman 5. TCS: Barnett 4, Blake 2, Lynch 5, Deal.
By ERIC HERTER
